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New iPhone battery to cost $85.95

More than $100 if you borrow an iPhone while it's being fixed

Analysts have warned that the use of a battery that cannot be replaced by the user was a grave mistake

Apple has
revealed that it will cost
iPhone users in the
US at least $85.95 (£43) to replace the non-removable battery in the new
handsets.

The cost includes a $6.95 shipping fee to send the phone back to Apple, but
users will have to pay an extra $29 if they want to borrow a replacement iPhone
for three business days while the work is carried out.

The arrangement is similar to that used to replace failing batteries in
iPods, which are also fixed into the casing and cannot be swapped out by users.

Carolina Milanesi, a research director at analyst firm
Gartner,
told
vnunet.com
that modern phone users are unwilling to pay for replacements or repairs,
especially when they are more likely to replace the phone than the battery.

"No-one is happy to pay anything nowadays, but it will really depend on how
you see the device," she said.

"If you see it as a phone you would expect the battery to come out, but if
you are thinking of it as an iPod you know the deal."

Milanesi added that very few people in Europe replace the battery in a mobile
phone because they usually replace the whole handset every year under contract.

"Given that users will have a two-year contract with the iPhone we need to
hope that the battery does not deteriorate in that time," she said.

The other problem is that consumers will not be able to seek an alternative,
cheaper service to replace the battery as opening the back of the iPhone voids
the warranty.

"I am sure that third-party suppliers offering solutions will not be put off,
but as a consumer I would think twice before invalidating the warranty," said
Milanesi.

Some analysts
warned
before the launch that the inclusion of a rechargeable battery that cannot
be replaced by the user was a grave mistake.

"The non-replaceable battery is a mistake in my opinion. Just look at all the
flack Apple took for the iPods without user battery replacement capability,"
Jack Gold, founder of product research firm
J
Gold Associates, told
vnunet.com.

"Many phone users carry around a spare battery because it is small and light
and just plug it into the phone when needed."